Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Ramsey's Challenge
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“Hmm? That's interesting. No particular reaction even after seeing this.”
Ramsey tilted his head.
His face alone might look cute, but anyone seeing the body below would struggle to think that.
“My sister dry-heaved the moment she laid eyes on me.”
Facing his long-lost sister.
Ramsey looked as if he might shed tears as he said it.
His appearance was indeed horrific. His face being normal only made it more grotesque.
But it was nothing compared to the demons of hell. Their horror went beyond mere physical form.
To Damian, Ramsey's look was merely somewhat unpleasant.
“Is Dillon safe?”
“Looks like he's a mage you quite value. Don't worry. He's still alive.”
Crack. Ramsey's body split open, revealing Dillon bound in tentacles. He was unconscious but breathing.
“Though in a day or two, he'll be fully absorbed.”
Damian couldn't allow that.
His chances of becoming mage tower lord again were slim, just like before his regression, but Dillon's talents would still prove useful to Damian going forward.
And now, he could even be called a comrade. He wasn't someone Damian could easily abandon.
“But why did you knock out my sister? You could've dragged me out without going that far.”
“Just in case.”
Agnes had dusted herself off and stood, but Damian couldn't predict her reaction upon reuniting with Ramsey.
Variables had to be eliminated in advance. That's why he apologized first.
Damian might steal her revenge, after all.
But now, it was no longer just her problem.
“Ugh. If I'd known it was a trap, I could've half-assed the tracker.”
The tracker Dillon—no, Ramsey—had made was an exquisitely crafted fake.
He had planned to lure Damian and Agnes deep into the sewers and see what he could do, but Damian striking first had rendered it largely meaningless.
“How about we chat for a bit? Opportunities like this don't come often. I've always wanted a fellow illegitimate child as a friend.”
Damian was an illegitimate child, but the only one who'd said it to his face was about Fourth Prince Arkin.
To the imperial nobles, Damian was far too lofty a figure for an ordinary bastard noble to approach.
“What reason do I have to do that?”
“'Master' said he's looking forward to our next meeting.”
He seemed to be referring to the man who had spoken through Cardinal's body. Was he the leader of the Crusaders?
“That's another reason I came to the mage tower. Oh, and of course, my desire to be friends with you is genuine.”
There was no harm in hearing him out. Even the smallest scrap of information on the Crusaders was valuable.
“First, a message from Master.”
Ahem. Ramsey cleared his throat.
His body lacked anything resembling a proper neck.
“'Join us, Damian Renekht. I alone know your power.' What exactly is your power? You're a mage. Sure, you handle a sword quite well.”
Ramsey didn't understand, but the leader's intent was clear.
Black magic.
Not all Crusaders knew, but their leader was certainly aware of hell and demons.
‘At least he's no one from this era.’
From an ancient civilization? The empire's founding days?
Whenever it was, he wasn't an ordinary human.
Likely a mage beyond common sense, like the owner of Aum Pasha's memories, or a conceptual being like the Old Man of the Mountain.
“You don't think I'd follow without a fuss, do you?”
“Ahaha. If I did, I wouldn't have come this far.”
“You've had plenty to do in the mage tower.”
Assassinating Leon, making contact with Agnes, and now targeting Damian.
The sword scars he'd shown indicated a major role within the group.
“Well, there was a lot to handle. The first thing on the list was this.”
Leon's body writhed once more. This time, not just one emerged. And unlike Dillon, they were conscious.
“Save me! Save me! Save me!”
“Kill me instead! Kill me, I said!!”
“Uwaaaah! Uwaaaah!”
Mages writhing in agony. Damian recognized their faces.
They had collaborated with Cardinal on various crimes and vanished just before capture.
Damian had suspected Crusader involvement. But he hadn't expected Ramsey.
‘They retain their egos, but their bodies are fully fused.’
Black magic—Gaze confirmed no way to save them.
Even so, Damian kept probing just in case.
They struggled desperately even as they were reabsorbed into Ramsey's body.
They were villains comparable to Cardinal and had aided the Crusaders, but watching them suffer without release wasn't amusing.
“How long have you been in the mage tower?”
“Right after Uncle Cardinal caused trouble. Such a shame. If he'd been a bit more thorough, he could've risen higher.”
Ramsey feigned regret.
“You're the one who killed the five involved?”
“Yes. Their mission ended once they snuck me in. Master now wishes to wrap things up at the mage tower.”
“And that means…”
Massive chaos. The surest way to bring it to the mage tower was one.
“You're planning to assassinate Mage Tower Lord Ariella?”
“Half right. How could someone like me harm the greatest mage alive right now?”
Before his regression, Ariella had vanished without a trace. No retaliation.
Absorbed into a body like Ramsey's, like the other mages?
It didn't matter if there were other plans. Eliminating Ramsey here would end it.
“Why target Agnes? Personal satisfaction, or the Crusaders' will?”
“Both, I'd say. Master permitted it at my earnest request.”
“So what's the reason?”
“I'm a chosen one.”
“What?”
Damian furrowed his brow at the absurd claim. Ramsey covered his mouth, laughing as if it were hilarious.
“Ahaha. I know it's hard to grasp. I know my personality's plenty twisted. Probably because my father, the upright and righteous Sir Russ Schubert, rolled around with a bitch in heat.”
He wasn't just belittling himself—he was outright insulting himself. It was grating to hear.
“My sister dismisses me as a monster from some weird procedure, but this was possible because I was born with great talent. That's why He chose me.”
It was impressive that a human retained their ego after chimera procedures. But great? Damian doubted it.
“And there's a chance my sister has that potential too. So, we're experimenting.”
If she dies, oh well. His bright expression belied the gruesome words.
“Seems we've said all we need to. What now?”
“Master only told me to relay the message. He said nothing about after. So I can do as I please.”
Crunch. A bizarre sound emanated from Ramsey's body.
Now Damian noticed he'd been sitting the whole time. As the massive form fully rose, Damian had to look up.
“Why not join my sister so she won't be lonely, Sir Damian? Oh, I'll even release your friend Dillon. You can take him along.”
Ramsey spoke magnanimously.
“Feeling confident?”
“I prefer peaceful resolutions, but I'm prepared for when that's not possible.”
Damian answered by drawing his sword.
He also summoned his wight—Xenon—and the remaining undead, including the Death Knight.
He had expended most against Cardinal and the memory owner.
He hadn't replenished, but he'd substantially restored the existing ones using primal mana. Enough to handle Ramsey.
‘He clearly hasn't heard that part.’
The information that absorbing black magic fully awakens demonic power.
If he knew, he'd have touched black magic right in the elevator.
Their leader, whom he called Master, likely knew but hadn't told Ramsey.
Damian's demonic power wasn't fully awakened, so no need to risk it.
Like with Cardinal, a pincer attack with the Death Knight would do.
“A true friend plays together. Come to think of it, you're not just an illegitimate friend—you're my first real friend, Sir Damian.”
Ramsey's grinning form shrank to Damian's height, then drew a massive sword from his chest.
Sword? It was too crude—more like a saw with jagged, missing teeth.
Of course, the brutally savage sword scars weren't just from the blade. His nature played a bigger role.
“““Groooar!!”””
“““Kiyaaaaak!!!”””
No reason to yield first strike. The undead horde crashed over Ramsey like waves.
Clang. Ramsey simply swung his sword from above down. A massive gap tore through the undead wave.
It didn't end there. Though one swing, countless wounds appeared on surrounding undead.
‘A property of his aura?’
Agnes hadn't shared details of Ramsey's fighting style.
Their reunion was recent, and during the fight, she'd been too distracted for various reasons.
Unknown technique. But not of high level.
If Agnes had fought at full strength, it wouldn't have ended like that.
Damian charged from the front, Death Knight from behind.
Ramsey's body was wide open from cleaving the horde.
Block one side, and he'd take a hit from the other.
‘What’s this?'
Dozens of hands sprouted from Ramsey's body, mana converging to a point.
Fire, ice, wind, light beams—diverse magics fired in all directions. From the absorbed mages.
Damian had assumed he could use some of their knowledge since he made a fake tracker.
But casting spells himself? Unexpected.
Boom! Damian defended with stone scale barrier. Death Knight tanked the hits to land a blow on Ramsey.
Slash. Something like Ramsey's right arm fell.
But Death Knight took damage too.
He endured the magic, but allowing Ramsey a strike left his body riddled with countless sword scars.
‘At least the magic's low-level. Lucky.’
Among recently absorbed mages were two tower councilors.
Full use of their power would've made him far more troublesome.
“You wield a sword, Sir Damian, but you're a mage at heart. So this is fair play, right?”
His tone lacked tension despite the movement.
Did he truly see this battle as a game?
But in that instant, Damian spotted a clear opening and lunged.
Sword unity.
Though Ramsey wielded a sword, his depth was shallow. Countering like Agnes was impossible.
A space of sword and self alone. Yet Damian's mind targeted Ramsey's head.
‘Huh?’
Crackle. The thought vanished with a chilling sensation.
The sword had connected, but only severed Ramsey's left arm.
Gurgle. It was already regenerating, along with the previous right arm.
“Kaaaaah!!”
Countless sword scars shredded Damian. He screamed in battle for the first time in ages.
He was tolerant of pain, but Ramsey's blade brought agony on another level.
‘How…?’
Impossible. Agnes had only read it through spars and Sword Dance.
Yet Ramsey, with shallower sword understanding, not only parried but inflicted greater damage.
“Do you know, Sir Damian?”
Ramsey spoke with an unbroken smile.
“My father, Sir Russ—his body was never found. Just his broken sword.”
Who had taught Agnes aura-less training? Her father, Russ.
A man that earnest leaving only a broken sword? Equivalent to death.
Crack. Ramsey's body split again, revealing a man vaguely resembling Ramsey and Agnes.
“He's right here.”
The first man Ramsey killed. The first he absorbed.
Agnes and Ramsey's father, Russ Schubert.
‘Trouble.’
And his aura was Agnes's Sword Dance.